Chapter VIII: The Most Painful Departure

Did you ever experience how fast time flies when you are to depart with the person you love truly? Although our marriage has failed, we stayed together like college days. We met every day after my school hours. We would talk for hours like we were into relationship for the first time. The joy lasted until it was time for Tashi to depart for India. It was a decision made for him by his father. It was harsh for me but, like all parents do, his father thought about his son. He thought about his future. It was heart-breaking and a huge frustration for a person who fell in love with him but I had to understand.

A cold wind below the valley sent a sad song all over my face. It was a song of departure! A Goodbye! It was the first time in three years that we will be staying away from each other. We will not be seeing each other. May be over phone calls and video calls. There will be no hugs and no kisses. Like attending someone’s funeral, we were standing on road in the early morning. The merciless road! The road which will carry my love away from me. I will blame the road if love fades little by little, miles by miles.

Then I turned towards the man who I hated the most. The man of arrogance, the man who didn’t understand what it feels to love someone truly. He stood there like a hulk as usual chewing doma like a goat. Mothers are soft-hearted. I saw Tashi’s mother crying. She was wiping her tears as well. She was worried about the safety of her son and I was worried for many reasons.

Will that day be the last day to see each other? Or will he come back to me? It all depended on his heart. It was the bridge that connected me with him. Will it collapse? Will the London Bridge of hearts fall down? Hundreds of questions were sprouting inside me. I tried to forget all the worries. I just wanted to see the man who carried all of my hopes. He is going to go with his heart full of my hopes and he is going to come with still his heart filled with my hopes and trust. It was may be due to the departure, honestly, he was the most handsome man in the world. He was the reason I was crying a lot.

About half an hour, there was a taxi which was carrying passengers from Trongsa to Thimphu. There were two passengers and two of the seats were empty. The urge to cry became more. More tears started to fall. The pain in the heart was even larger. I felt as if the walls of my heart were breaking. There, I could not hold anything inside. I cried with all my voices out. There were few private vehicles passing by the road. After hearing my cries, some of them slowed down their speed and peeped through the glass to see if everything was alright.

“Lekyuen, the things have just begun and they have never been good to either of us. Just like all bad things come, it will go. Then, good things will come to everyone. We are no different. We are sad to depart but we will have a time where we can be together forever. I carry some part of your heart with me and some part of my heart in you. There is always a hope. Until we meet again, I will miss you every single day”, his farewell words melted my heart more than ever. I saw him crying with his voice out just like me. His father saw that day, how much we loved each other. I could see the pain in his heart too.

We hugged each other again. He kissed me for the last time on my forehead. His father could not stop him. We held our hands until the taxi driver said, “Sir, are you ready?”

He stepped one of his feet inside the taxi and one outside on the ground. The hold of hands became tighter. Reluctantly and slowly, we released our holding hands. The engine of the taxi started and wheels started to rotate. Metres by metres, the taxi ran away from me. He managed to look at me from the window and wave a goodbye. He was still wiping his tears.

The road was cruel. The taxi was cruel. The future was cruel. The road and taxi took him far from me and the future didn’t understand the pain of love of present. His parents and I stood there until the taxi disappeared from our sight.

His father left ahead of me and mother. We turned our back towards the school. The tears didn’t stop falling like rain. They went to their house and I returned to that poor school.